Field
The following description relates generally to communication systems and, more particularly, to power management.
Background
One of the main applications of high-frequency (HF) wireless systems such as 60 GHz devices, especially handsets, is rapid transfer of very large files. The traffic in such a communication scenario is transmitted in short, but high volume bursts. Between the transmissions, there is usually a long period of data inactivity, during which the HF radio on the handset may enter a sleep/power-save mode.
In a conventional power-save mode implementation, the HF radio wakes up periodically for short time periods to listen to the beacons in order not to miss any incoming data. In highly bursty traffic, the energy spent on these periodic wake ups during time periods of inactivity can constitute a large portion of the total energy consumed.
In addition, due to the higher path loss in HF channels, devices may experience signal loss (e.g., due to shadowing) for extended periods of time, during which connection to the access point (AP) over the HF link may be lost. Periodically waking up to monitor signal availability can consume large amount of energy.
As such, there is a need to improve power management in HF wireless systems.